Saturday, April 26, 2025
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Innovative and Transformation Cell – Indian Railways
Innovative and Transformation Cell – Indian Railways
Transformation Cell Constituted by Railway Board on 09.03.2017. New name is Innovative & Transformation Cell. The Cell works under the Railway Board, often in consultation with NITI Aayog, Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY), and other strategic bodies. Coordination is ensured with Railway PSUs, RDSO, and zones for seamless adoption and replication of innovations.
During the period from 2017 Oct to 2018 Oct - Nearly 158 Circulars are issued. That means, On an average 12 circulars are being issued every month or 3 circulars every week ,which is remarkable.
PED - Principal Executive Director is in charge of the Transformation Cell. Under him 8 Executive Directors work, drawn from different disciplines like Traffic, Engineering, Mechanical, Electrical, Personnel, Accounts ,etc.
It hires young professionals — MBAs, BTechs, CAs — from the private sector to assist.
It overrides all the other existing directorates.
Mandated with the implementation of 55 new ideas
Story behind formation: Railways had crowd sourced ideas of reformation ,from its 13 lakh employees and has received 1.5 lakh suggestions on issues regarding cleanliness, improving passenger amenities, safety of the railway employees, increasing earnings from freight and processing of making journey in Indian railways a pleasant experience for its 23 million passengers .
125 sq m prefabricated office on a third-floor terrace - earmarked for Transformation Cell - which is not far from the cabins of the members and chairman of the Railway Board — the highest decision making body of the Indian Railways (IR). The new hall is designed to give a look and feel of a corporate office — a common area surrounded by 9 sq m cabins, each meant for one Executive Director.
To infuse new ideas and adopt latest technologies that can bring a change in the working of railways, the Indian Railways is in the process of creating a new Transformation Directorate which works to implement the suggestions made during Rail Vikas Shivir which was attended by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in November 2016.
During the last two years, four directorates have been created to look into specific areas. These include ,non fare revenue, mobility, environment and heritage.
Improving financial health of the railways and providing world class amenities to passengers are the top most agendas of the Government. The ministry has been having regular meetings with Niti Aayog to carry out reforms in Indian Railways.
Objectives: To promote innovation, modernization, and efficiency in the functioning of Indian Railways. The aim is to bring in fresh ideas, disruptive technologies, and transformation strategies across various functional areas.
Collaboration: With startups, PSUs, and technology providers to solve railway challenges & promote cost-effective solutions and ease of doing business within Railways.
Major Focus areas:
Passenger Amenities and Services
Digitization and Automation
Railway Infrastructure Modernization
Safety Enhancement
Energy Efficiency and Green Initiatives
AI, Big Data, and IoT Integration
Innovative HR and Training Approaches
Working Mechanism: Acts as a nodal point for ideation, review, and execution of innovative proposals. Ideas are sourced through competitions, hackathons, and open calls from employees and the public. Cross-functional teams evaluate feasibility and suggest pilot implementation. Regular monitoring and scaling up of successful innovations across zones/divisions.
Achievements so far
MSOP - Model Schedule Of Powers
GCC for Services
Re Engagement of Retired personnel & engagement of consultants
Railway Innovation Portal: Platform to crowdsource ideas from employees and public.
Startup Collaboration under 'Startups for Railways' policy to fund and support technology-based solutions.
AI-driven predictive maintenance tools and smart yard management systems.
Passenger-centric apps and digital complaint redressal systems.
Sunday, April 20, 2025
Lost Man Hours
📘 Definition: Lost Man Hours are the total hours of productivity lost due to various inefficiencies, delays, or disruptions in work processes. In audits, this term is often used to quantify the impact of absenteeism, idle time, strikes, system failures, poor planning, or bottlenecks on workforce efficiency.
🧾 Relevance in Audit: Performance Audits by CAG of India and internal audit departments often measure Lost Man Hours to evaluate:
Labour productivity
Operational inefficiency
Impact of disruptions on output
Effectiveness of manpower planning
It is especially relevant in sectors like:
Railways
Factories/Workshops
Construction/Infrastructure projects
Public utilities
📊 Example in Indian Railways Audit:
If a workshop has 1,000 employees and 10% are absent on a working day (say 100 employees), and each works 8 hours:
Lost Man Hours = 100 × 8 = 800 man-hours per day
Similarly, if a machinery breakdown causes 200 workers to remain idle for 3 hours:
Lost Man Hours = 200 × 3 = 600 man-hours
📝 Audit Findings May Include:
Number of man-hours lost due to absenteeism
Idle labour cost due to poor resource planning
Delay in projects due to non-availability of skilled manpower
Lost hours due to workplace accidents or disputes
✅ Why It Matters in Audit Reports:
Helps in cost-benefit analysis
Indicates wastage of public resources
Forms the basis for recommendations on manpower optimization
Saturday, April 19, 2025
New Labour Code - Code on Wages, 2019
Labour Laws Overview
Existing Labour Laws
New Labour Code - Code on Wages, 2019
• Consolidates the above four Acts into a single legislation.
• Once notified and made effective, the foregoing Acts will be repealed.
Important Note
Central Trade Unions including Railway Trade Unions have been agitating against the implementation of New Labour Codes.
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Official Language - e Applications
A list of important e-applications/software developed or managed by the Department of Official Language (Rajbhasha Vibhag), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, to promote and propagate Hindi as an official language:
1. Kanthastha (कंठस्थ)
Type: Desktop software
Purpose: Translation from English to Hindi using memory-based translation.
Key Features:
Helps officers and staff translate standard official English sentences into Hindi.
Works offline; useful in ministries and offices with limited internet.
Enhances translation speed and consistency.
2. LILA – Rajbhasha (Learn Indian Languages through Artificial Intelligence)
Type: Web-based e-learning portal
Purpose: Learn Hindi for non-Hindi speakers.
Key Features:
AI-powered language learning platform.
Designed for employees whose mother tongue is not Hindi.
Offers progressive modules, quizzes, and assessments.
Promotes official language learning in a simple and engaging format.
Access: http://lilaproject.in
3. MANTRA (Machine Assisted Translation Tool)
Type: Rule-based translation system
Purpose: Translation between English and Hindi.
Key Features:
Developed for precise English-to-Hindi translation of government documents.
Supports domain-specific rules for better accuracy.
Originally developed by CDAC under the guidance of the Department of Official Language.
4. Anuvadaksh (अनुवादक्ष)
Type: Online Translation Tool
Purpose: Translation of official documents from English to Hindi.
Key Features:
Cloud-based, web-accessible translation system.
Uses Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing (NLP).
Aims to improve efficiency and reduce translation cost in government offices.
5. Hindi Tools / Unicode Typing Tools
Type: Software utility
Purpose: Hindi typing and Unicode text conversion.
Key Features:
Typing assistance in Hindi using Remington and Inscript keyboards.
Transliteration support from English to Hindi.
Useful for employees who are not proficient in traditional Hindi typing.
6. e-Hindi Learning Module
Type: Online Training
Purpose: Promote Hindi language usage among central government employees.
Key Features:
Includes video tutorials, reading materials, and tests.
Available on the Department of Official Language’s portal.
Helps improve proficiency for Prabodh, Praveen, and Pragya level exams.
7. Hindi e-Tutorials on YouTube and Diksha Platform
Purpose: Easily accessible language learning resources.
Key Features:
Available as videos for Prabodh/Praveen/Pragya.
Promotes remote learning and exam preparation.